The Kosovo Court of Appeal has annulled the ruling of the Basic Court in Pristina - Special Department, which had rejected the request of the Special Prosecution Office to impose detention on three defendants for the criminal offense of money laundering.
In a statement made public on Friday, the Court of Appeal announced that it had approved the appeal of the Special Prosecution of the Republic of Kosovo as well-founded and, ex officio, annulled the decision of the Basic Court in Pristina - Special Department, returning the case for retrial.
The Basic Court in Pristina decided on February 27, 2026 to reject the request of the Special Prosecution for detention against the defendants with the initials EA, AK and AL, suspected of the criminal offense of "Money Laundering" under Article 302 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kosovo, in relation to the relevant provisions of the law on the prevention of money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism.
With that decision, the first instance court ordered that the defendants be released immediately to defend themselves at liberty from February 27, 2026.
However, the Panel of the Court of Appeals has found that the appealed decision contains essential violations of the provisions of criminal procedure, related to the incorrect application of the substantive provisions.
According to the Appeal, the first instance court did not provide sufficient reasons as to how it reached the conclusion that there is no reasonable suspicion that the defendants committed the criminal offense.
"In the case of rejecting the Special Prosecution's request for pre-trial detention, the first instance court did not provide sufficient reasons regarding the lack of well-founded suspicion," the Appeal's reasoning states.
Also, according to the panel of this court, the reasoning of the first instance decision turns out to be generalized, unclear and in some parts even contradictory.
The appeal also assessed that the first instance court did not make a full assessment of the materials contained in the case files in relation to the elements of the criminal offense of which the defendants are suspected.
For these reasons, the Court of Appeal has decided that the appealed decision be annulled and the case be returned for retrial to the Basic Court in Pristina - Special Department. /Telegrafi/
